Conveyer aligning device



Patented Mey 3o, 1939 I 2,1605057 UNITED sTATEs PATENT oFFicE ooNvEYERALIGNTNG DEVICE vVaughn F. Carus and Donald D. Alexander, Sarinaw,Mich., assignors, by mesne assignments, to Baker Perkins Company, Inc.,Saginaw, Mich., a

' corporation of New York Application september zz, 1931, serial No.165,164 4 olaime.- (criss- 202) This invention relates-to a device `fortrackcasteringeffect increase the frictional resistance ing, or keepingin longitudinal alignment, ilexible between the rollers and conveyer`and thus overconveyers; and as an illustrative embodiment of.. ycome thetendency of the conveyer to wander, this invention it may 'be consideredin. connec- `and also cause the conveyer to return to its norl tion witha steel band oven, that is an oven h avmal center line of travel andholdit there. f 5

`ing a'continuous ilexible-steelband or conveyer It is understoodthathereafter' when wheels f passing over pulleys or vdrums vat or near thejare mentioned it isintendedto include-in its )ends of the ovenv andupon,l the top surface of -meaning rollers, discs, andl otherkrotatable* de- .which the goods'are baked. -j `.viceswhich will engagea surface of the-conf i0. In baking goods, vparticularly biscuits .and eveyer. an cause it to return to normal position 10y crackers uponthe'steel conveyer of an oven, the and maintain it. in its truecentraljline of travel. `goods are deposited invregularly spaced align-It' is thereforega prime object of this invention ment, l and itisedesirable to maintain these goods v.to provide a conveyer aligningdevice which will y upon vthe conveyor in .thesamerelation'as cutprevent a-conveyer from wandering and in the .1,5 -or died out ofthedough in'.order`to1facilitate event abnormal conditions cause lt towander, 15 removal for packing;` consequently, it -is desirable willreturn it to its. normal medial position and to have theconveyer travelthrough the oven in hold the conveyer at its normal nledial position lcentral alignment so that the goods will layfon without constantlylshifting from one 'side of the n the'conveyer in straight rowsapproximating the medial position to the other. The 'ofi-set piv- 20order in which they are cut bythe cutting or otal relation betweentheaxes of the Wheels and go forming machine. the supporting platecauses the wheels, when In conveyers of this type, it has been foundreaching their medialcentralzpositionI to stop extremely diilicult tomaintain the bands cen` at this point which is the point of leastresistance, trally aligned over their pulleys or`drums Abeand once thewheels reach this position, there cause of the tendency'towander lto oneside of is no tendencyyfor them to move beyond their g5# the oven. I lmedial central position as has been the dimclty In constructing pulleysfor 'this type of conwith other types of aligning devices, and thus vveyer, it has been foundtha't crowned pulleys are cause the band tocontinuously wanderer weave i impractical because`pf `the tendency -tostretch from side to side 'across the normal medial posi- 30.01 distort4they conveyer out of shape at its cen-r tion. s

tral part, that is the conveyor will'be permanently It is a furtherobject'of this invention to probowed or` crowned. Consequtlltlly'. thePulleys vide a conveyer tracking or aligning device which i usedon steelband conveyers have 'a very slight is positive in action` and with aminimum oi 'crown crono. crown at al1', heme the difficulty 0f.'vtransverse novementl of :the conveyer whereby 35 maintaining theConvey?! 1n Central alignment# thel goods on the conveyerymay belcarried inthe S5- The present invention comprises `one or more desiredsti-aight a11gnment Y. rotatable wheels orrollers which bear. against aIt is a Stili further object oi this-invention to surface of theconveyer and which are so supprovide a conveyor iii-ookii'i'gr oi.oiignmsdevioo Portefn a' Pivoted name that their axes are in vwhich issimple and inexpensive in construction 'Y 4o off-'setw'i'elation tothepivotal point -of the frame and easily iii-Stoned on' any bandol. .boittypo '40 causing the aligning wheels tomo. in an are conveyerhavingatendencyl'fto vdrift -or`,wander o i substantial radius andbe displacedlaterally I v I. 'to greatly `inviateci the friction between `the to oneside Offatrue alignment Itis a still further object ofthe i `wheels andthe conveyer when it tends to move Y n ventum to 45 laterally of itsvtrue medial line of traveL- thus, provide m8511510? adjusting thelength of the making the aligning device more l effective by radius ofthe arc through which the -wheel moves' reducing, too minimum,yihoiotemi movement of -to increase orl decrease the i'rictional contractof the' conveyer, the wheels against the-surface ofthe conveyor.

i The wheels `or rollersv of the tracking. device yare With these andOther Objects lin view'whiChWill 5o 'movedabout incirca-set .pivotalaxes by the appear later-in the specication. our `invention conveyeritself as it engagesja shifting .device comprises the deVTlCeS describedand daimed and connected withv the wheels or rollers by a'partheequivalents thereof. i allel; motion lconnection so Ythat as' theconveyor As an illustrative. embodiment of this invenwanders, itsmovement will swing the wheels or tion, the drawing will now beconsidered which: 55 rollers about .its off-set pivotal axis and Aby itsFig. lis a top'plan view ofour invention showu l ing the conveyeraligning device in a normal operating position.

Fig. 2 is a plan view similar to Fig. 1 showing, in exaggeration, theposition of the aligning device when the conveyer has wandered to onesid of a central alignment.

Fig. 3 is an elevation of the device as viewed from the rear or in thedirection of the arrows. y

Fig. 4 is a sectional 4-4 Fig. 1.

I is a stationary supporting base which 4may be secured in any suitablemanner to a conveyerv bed or asshownby a support bar 2 fastened to r theside frames 8--3 ofthe conveyer or oven.

Secured to the supporting base I isan upright;l shaft or spindlev l'whIchpivotally supportstheframe of the aligning device. The frame ispref# 1 erably constructed in the form of a Y, as viewed in plan, andhas two bifurcated arms and a single straight arm 8.' Thebifurcatedlarms 5;-5.

have bearings 1 1 formed at their ends-through which a shaft 0 passes.The ends of the shaft 8 rotatably supports the aligning wheels 9 9 whichmay be rotatable on the shaft or alternatively may be secured theretoand the shaft rotatably mounted in the bearings.

Extending vertically downward from the junction of the two bifurcatedarms 5 5 and the straight arm 6 and rearwardly of the shaft bearings 'Iis a hollow sleeve or journal Ill which is pivotally mounted on thespindleLI. In order to reduce the friction between these two members,the lower end of the sleeve or journal I0 is preferably supported by africtionless bearing II carried by the supporting base I.

Near the end of the straight `varm 6 of the Y is pivoted a shift bar I2carryingat each end a vertically pivoted roller I3 normally adjacent toan edge of the conveyer I1 andpreferably spaced apart a distanceslightly great'erthan the width of the conveyer band so thatslightirregularities in the edges of the conveyer will not be constantlydisplacing the shift bar I2,

The aligning device is preferably located beneath the upper or tight runof the conveyer band near the driving. drum or pulley with the aligningwheel in frictional contact with the under surface of the conveyer bandso that when the wheels are at exactly right angles to the direction oftravel, -the minimum frictionv between the wheels and conveyer willcause it to be carried centrallyover the drums.

Should the conveyer band wander too far to one side-of its normal axialcenter line, one edge of the band will engage a roller I3 as shown inexaggeration, in Fig. 2 and move the shift bar I2 In the direction. ofits wandering. swinging the Y frame about the off-set spindle 4 so thatthe aligning wheels are moved angularly and in an arc and in a directionopposite to the wander of the band. Thefrictional resistance of thewheels against the under surface of the conveyer will be increased andthis resistance will over- 'come the tendency of the conveyer tocontinue its lateral movement and by the casteringaction return theconveyer to its normal position bringing the shift bar I2 and associatedparts tothe position shown in Fig. 1. 'Ihe aligning Wheels now being atexactly right angles to the normal center line of travel, the band willtravel centrally of the drums or pulleys, and will be maintained in thisposition due to an arc of substantial radius through which the wheelshave to swing. In order to maintain the shift bar I2'at right angles tothe. normal center line of travel 0f the elevation taken on the lineconveyer, a parallel motion connection is providedvvconsisting of a'pairof links I4--I4 pivoted at cna-end as at I5 to the shift bar and attheir opposite end to a pair of studs I6 carried by the supporting baseI or other part ofthe deviceto prevent the shift bar I2 from movingangularly and thusl bind the conveyer between the two rollers I 3-I3when the conveyer-'wanders too far toA one. side of its normalcenterline of travel. This arrangement'permits a closer clearancebecertaintypes of conveyers it may not be (necessary. tojshift theangular position of-the aligning wheels as far as shown in Fig. 2. Where.v less angularmovement is required, adjustable features are providedtoshorten the radius of the arc through which the wheels move when the lconveyer wanders laterally. This adjustment .j consists of a series ofslots or holes .I8 in the straight arm 6 of the Y frame, and a series ofBy shifting the studs I5 and 20 into the holes I8 and I9, the radiusofthe arc can be reduced and the angular movement of the wheels decreased.

Further modifications may consist of a single roller extending eitherpart way across the con-I veyer or the full width thereof instead of thewheels as shown. Similarly a plurality of these 80 aligning devicescould be used to support the conveyer throughout its length and theusualf t supporting rollers be omitted, especially if an extremely longconveyer band be used. Likewise the conveyer aligning device can belocated on.

the return run as well as the Working run of the conveyer and placed oneither surface of the conveyer so long as they do not interfere with thegoods carried by the conveyer.

Byl the above describedmeans, we have lpro duced a conveyer aligningdevice which yis more sensitive to slight wanderingsand maintains theconveyer in a straighter line of travel than has heretofore beenpossible, is simple and inexpensive in construction andv easilyinstalled and maintained even in baking ovens 'having ahighframe andengageable by said conveyer when it moves laterally to swing said wheelsin an arc to cause said conveyer to return to its normal medial positionand retain it there, andfa parallel link connection between said supportand said Shift bar.

2. A conveyer' aligning device comprising a wheel for engaging a surfaceof a conveyer, .a

frame for supporting said wheel, a support'for said frame, a pivotalconnection between said frame 'and said support, said pivotal connectionbeing oil-set from the axis of said wheel, a shift y bar pivotallyconnected to said wheel supporting frame and engageable by said conveyerwhen it moves laterally to swing said wheels in an arc.

to cause said conveyer to return to its normal medial position andretain it there, a parallel link connection between said support andsaid shift bar, and means on said parallel link connection 1 the radiusof the arc through said wheels swing.

3. Conveyer aligning device comprising a wheel` for engaging a surfaceof a conveyer and maintaining said conveyer in longitudinal alignment, aframe for supporting said wheel, a support for said frame, a pivotedconnection between' said frame and support, said pivotal connectionbeing offset from the axis oi' said wheel, Va shift bar engageable bysaid conveyer .when it moves laterally, an adjustable pivotableconnection between said'shift bar and said wheel supporting frame, aparallel link pivotally connected to said support and said shift bar andadjustable pivots connecting said shift bar and said link whereby theradius of the arc through which the wheels swing may be adjusted.

4. A conveyer aligning device comprising a rotatable wheel for engagingthe under surface of a conveyer, a supporting frame i'or said wheelspivoted about the normal medial center line of said conveyer and, offsetfrom the axis of said wheels, a shift bar pivoted to said supportingframe' and embracing said conveyer, means at the ends of said shift barengageable by said conveyor when it wanders laterally from said medialcenterline to displace said shift bar 'laterally and rotate saidsupporting frame and wheels to an angular position opposite the lateralmovement of said conveyer to increase the frictional contact betweensaid Wheels and said conveyer and cause said conveyer to return to itsnormal medial center line of travel, and a parallel motion connectionfor said shift bar whereby said shift bar will move in a path at rightangles to the medial center line of travel of said conveyer.

VAUGHN F. CARUS.

DONALD D. ALEXANDER.l

